MILBERT, J[acques Gerard] (1766-1840). Itinéraire Pittoresque du Fleuve Hudson. Paris: Henri Gaugain, 1828.

Atlas volume only (lacking the two volumes of text), folio (509 x 346 mm). Lithographed title with hand-coloring; 54 lithographed views with hand-coloring printed on india paper and mounted after Milbert by Deroy, V. Adam, Villeneuve, and others. With engraved map with hand-coloring, "Carte pour servir á l'Itinéraire Pittoresque du Fleuve Hudson," dated 1826, bound in at end. (Some intermittent spotting primarily to mounts occasionally just crossing onto india paper plates.) 19th-century half green calf (lacking backstrip, some wear to extremities).

FIRST EDITION of Milbert's outstanding series of American views. Milbert spent seven years in the United States collecting specimens of American flora and fauna on behalf of the Museum d'Histoire Naturelle au Jardin du Roi in Paris. While in America, he also completed the sketches from which these lithographed views were made. The plates primarily depict New York State, including New York City, Albany, and Niagara Falls, and the views extend north as far as Massachusetts, and south as far as Virginia. "As an artist, Milbert loved to paint American landscapes, particularly those which showed the Hudson, 'King of Rivers,' flowing majestically through the mountains … boundless curiosity, plus a contagious enthusiasm and a delightful sense of humor, make the journal as lively a document today as when it was penned a hundred and forty years ago" (Sherman, "A French Explorer in the Hudson Valley" in the New York Historical Society Quarterly 45 (July 1961), pp.255-280). Brunet III:1713; Deak p. 299; Howes M-592; Monaghan 1072; Ray French 110; Sabin 48916.

MILBERT, J[acques Gerard] (1766-1840). Itinéraire Pittoresque du Fleuve Hudson. Paris: Henri Gaugain, 1828.